Robert McKinley, Senior Analyst/Editor
Robert McKinley is an analyst of the payments industry on a daily basis for 32 years covering payment cards and payment systems from both the business side and the consumer side. McKinley is the retired founder and chief executive of RAM Research, CardWeb and CardTrak. In his prior position, McKinley has participated in more than 10,000 documented news media interviews, testified as an expert witness in two separate $billion+ U.S. anti-trust trials, testified before the U.S. Congress, assisted the GAO with paymentsIMG_2006 (1).jpeg reports, chaired numerous business conferences and provided C-Suite opinion to a multitude of Fortune 500 companies. In retirement, he has continued developing and funding digital media assets as well as contributing payments related analysis/content to a broad list of online publishers, including CardFlash, CardTrak and CardData. McKinley is also a national certified mentor with the non-profit SCORE organization with a focus on assisting Fintech startups. www.robert-mckinley.com

Bankrate reported third quarter revenue of $140.8 million but delivered a GAAP net loss of $23.4 million. The investment to redesign o CreditCards.com site, which went live in April, is bearing fruit as it has helped drive a record number of unique visitors to the site.

MobileRecharge.com will launch the World Top Up Day on November 10 to celebrate, for the first time in history, top up senders worldwide. The organizers announce the best offer possible for November 10: NO FEES when making a top up to a mobile abroad on Mobilerecharge.com that day.

Banks everywhere are responding to digitalization by integrating online banking with mobile technologies to meet the needs of customers across all channels, from tablets to smartphone users. Next week Wincor Nixdorf will be showcasing this technology its device – CINEO C2020.

Gross or open accounts (GAC) for U.S. credit cards among the nation’s four largest issuers climbed 2.0% in the third quarter to 188.0 million, compared to 184.4 million one-year ago. The growth is driven by Capital One, while Chase, Bank of America (BofA) and Citibank face year-on-year (YOY) and quarter-to-quarter (QOQ) GAC erosion.

Here it comes ” a short-term interest rate hike next month of 25 basis points for the first time since the first quarter of 2006. The prediction is based on today’s BLS report that payroll employment increased by 271,000 in October with the unemployment rate essentially unchanged at 5%.

FL-based Electronic Payments has acquired substantially all the assets of Exatouch Point of Sale, a PA-DSS certified cloud-hybrid point of sale software system providing customized solutions to merchants nationwide.

CA-based prepaid card specialist Green Dot reported financial reported consolidated GAAP and non-GAAP total operating revenues of $146.4 million and $146.5 million, respectively, following the major loss of MoneyPak. Green Dot generated net cash from operations of $114 million year to date.

Rewards Network has launched TrueBlue Dining in partnership with JetBlue. By dining at participating locations, TrueBlue members can earn TrueBlue points through the TrueBlue Dining program. Points are redeemable for JetBlue flights, JetBlue Getaways vacation packages, and various publications and products.

Scotiabank and Interac have launched the Bulk Interac e-Transfer for Scotiabank’s business banking customers. This service extends the Interac e-Transfer service to Scotiabank’s business banking customers by offering a streamlined, secure and cost-effective alternative to cash, cheque or prepaid card disbursements.